About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Balvenie 14 Peated Triple Cask (48.3%)

Balvenie’s travel retail range holds the 12, 16 and 25. This range is matured in refill ex bourbon, first fill ex bourbon casks and first fill Oloroso sherry casks. I reviewed the Balvenie 25 year old, and was not blown away, if I put it mildly, and found it somewhat strange.

2017 saw the coming of age of Balvenie’s first annual (well, almost annual, and if you have a bottle of the Peat Week you saw it on the tube too) peated whisky. Under this program, the distillery uses peated malt for one week every year and it’s used for the Peat Week as well as for the Triple cask. It’s worth mentioning that this is Balvenie’s first foray into truly peated malt, although there have been two previous trials with peated casks – both the Islay Cask and the Peated Cask.

Photo Credit: thewhiskyexchange.com

Balvenie 14 Peated Triple Cask (48.3% ABV, NCF)

Appearance: Gold, viscous and slow legs.

Nose: Honey and heather, with a deep maltiness and hints of vanilla, oak and some wet peat. You can get the sherry on the bottom of the dram, with a little more of it as time in the glass goes by. I don’t know if I’d say that it’s a Balvenie if tasted blind, but I would definitely be thinking Speyside, especially on the nose.

Palate: Peat and a sweet yet dry, with some bitter citrus rind and a light peppriness. There’s a green fruitness, mildly tropical on the palate.

Linger: Sweet and smoky, with the sherry casks in presence with a dryness and some dry fruit. Pepper lingers in the gullet, in a finish that isn’t short.

Conclusion

When traveling, this is definitely an expression you’d want to try, if the combination of fruity and peat is one you like.